Suvremena psihologija 11 (2008), 1, 73-76

Pregledni lanak - UDK 159.942.5

DEFENSIVE PESSIMISM
Tiona uul

Harvard Business School

Cambridge, MA, U.S.A.
tzuzul@hbs.edu

Abstract
Recent research seems to have uncovered a form of pessimism that might be
adaptive for individuals who exhibit it. Defensive pessimism, a strategy which involves setting low expectations in risky situations in order to prepare for failure, does not
appear to hamper performance and may even bring about performance-related benefits. However, the adaptiveness of this strategy has only been evaluated in a particular
context, and cannot be generalized across all situations.
Key words: defensive pessimism, performance, adaptiveness

INTRODUCTION
The idea that optimism is good and pessimism is bad has become so prevalent in both psychological literature and popular culture that it been reduced to the
status of a near-clich in the Western public mind. A great body of psychological
research seems to confirm the idea that it is adaptive and even wise to maintain an
optimistic rather than pessimistic outlook. Studies have linked pessimism to depression (Alloy & Ahrens, 1987; Beck, 1967, 1976), suicide (Cropley & Weckowicz,
1966), poor coping (Goodhart, 1985), and physical illness (Peterson, Seligman, &
Vaillant, 1988; Scheier & Carver, 1985, 1987), while linking optimism to greater
happiness and satisfaction (Dember & Brooks, 1989; Myers & Diener, 1995). Indeed, even people who hold positive illusions that is, unrealistically optimistic
outlooks on themselves and their futures appear to be more content than their pessimistic counterparts (see Taylor & Brown, 1988, for an overview).
More recent research has added complexity to popular conceptions of optimism
and pessimism by attempting to separate these umbrella terms into many sub-types
of constructs, each with its own distinct pattern of usage and effect on the individual
(see Norem & Chang, 2000, 2002 for an overview). These constructs include dispositional optimism and pessimism, which best represent the popular understanding of
the terms. Dispositional optimists are people who generally expect that good things
will happen that is, those we commonly refer to simply as optimists; disposi Naklada Slap, 2008. Sva prava pridrana.

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tional pessimists generally expect negative things to happen that is, the classic
pessimists (Scheier & Carver, 1985). A more nuanced sub-category is that of
optimistic and pessimistic explanatory styles. People with pessimistic explanatory
styles tend to view negative events as personal (caused by themselves), permanent
(unchangeable and indefinite), and pervasive (affecting all parts of their lives); those with optimistic styles believe negative events are caused by external factors, are
finite, and will not affect all aspects of life (Peterson & Seligman, 1987). Finally,
nave optimists tend to believe negative events are less and positive events more
likely to happen to them than to other people (Epstein & Meier, 1989). All of these
concepts, first explored in the 1980s, were solidified over the next decades, until it
seemed that most questions regarding optimism, pessimism, and the costs and benefits of each had been answered.
DEFENSIVE PESSIMISM: AN ADAPTIVE FORM OF PESSIMISM?
However, one particular line of research has challenged established, prevailing
notions of optimism and pessimism: research conducted on what has been termed
defensive pessimism (see Norem, 2000, 2001 for an overview). Defensive pessimism is a coping strategy used by certain individuals in preparation for important
situations that hold the potential for either success or failure. Defensive pessimists
set low expectations for themselves in such situations in order to both motivate
themselves to work hard to prevent failure and to protect themselves from undue
distress should failure actually occur (Norem & Cantor, 1986b). Perhaps the classic example of a defensive pessimist is a student who convinces herself she will
do poorly on an upcoming exam in order to motivate herself to study harder and to
cushion the negative emotions a low grade on the exam may cause. Unlike realistic
pessimists, whose negative expectations are justified by poor past performance, defensive pessimists are individuals who have previously performed well in similar
situations. The defensively pessimistic student has usually received high marks on
exams; her negative expectations are not based on prior experience, but rather adopted for motivational and protective purposes (Norem & Cantor, 1986a).
The strategy of defensive pessimism is often contrasted with that of strategic optimism. Quite contrary to defensive pessimists, strategic optimists are people who
motivate themselves to expect positive outcomes in similar self-relevant situations: a
student who convinces herself she will do well on an upcoming exam and who does not
think about the chance that she may receive a low grade (Norem & Cantor, 1986b).
What is unusual about research on defensive pessimism is that it represents the
first time a type of pessimism has been deemed adaptive and beneficial for those who
employ it (Norem, 2001). Firstly, defensive pessimism does not appear to hamper an
individuals performance. In a range of both lab tasks and academic situations, defensive pessimists have been found to perform quite well despite their negative expectations, perhaps due to the motivational aspects of their preferred strategy (Norem
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SUVREMENA PSIHOLOGIJA 11 (2008), 1, 73-76

& Cantor, 1986a, 1986b; Cantor & Norem, 1989). Moreover, strategic optimists do
not outperform defensive pessimists on any of these tasks. Finally, when defensive
pessimists are forced to abandon their negative expectations and think optimistically,
their performance suffers (Norem & Illingworth, 1993). It seems tempting to conclude, then, that modern research has identified a form of pessimism that challenges
the widely-accepted notion that pessimism is bad and optimism is good: defensive
pessimism appears to be a positive, adaptive, and effective sub-set of pessimism.
However, all of the mentioned studies use relative performance on a task be it
an exam, a laboratory puzzle, or an interaction with a stranger as the benchmark
that determines whether or not a strategy is beneficial. These findings cannot be generalized to settings where a good performance is not the most important element
in determining overall well-being or the value of a strategy. In many situations, it
is affect and satisfaction rather than individual performance that determine wellbeing. An investigation of the effects of defensive pessimism in a domain where
it is satisfaction rather than performance that determines success is necessary to
fill a gap in research on defensive pessimism, and shed further light on optimism,
pessimism, and the relative advantages and disadvantages of each.
REFERENCES
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Universities Press.
Cantor, N., Norem, J.K. (1989). Defensive pessimism and stress and coping. Social Cognition, 7, 92-112.
Cropley, A.J., Weckowicz, T.E. (1966). The dimensionality of clinical depression. Australian Journal of Psychology, 18, 18-25.
Dember, W.N., Brooks, J. (1989). A new instrument for measuring optimism and pessimism:
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Epstein, S., Meier, P. (1989). Constructive thinking: A broad coping variable with specific
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Myers, D.G., Diener, E. (1995). Who is happy? Psychological Science, 6, 10-19.
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Norem, J.K. (2001). The positive power of negative thinking: Using defensive pessimism to
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DEFENZIVNI PESIMIZAM
Saetak
Novija istraivanja su, ini se, otkrila oblik pesimizma koji bi mogao biti adaptivan
pojedincima koji ga pokazuju. Defenzivni pesimizam, strategija koja ukljuuje postavljanje niskih razina oekivanja u rizinim situacijama radi spremnosti na neuspjeh, ne ometa
izvedbu, a moe dovesti i do odreenog uspjeha. Meutim, adaptivnost ove strategije procijenjena je u odreenom kontekstu i nije je mogue generalizirati u svim situacijama.
Kljune rijei: defenzivni pesimizam, izvedba, adaptivnost

Primljeno: 24.04.2008.
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Naklada Slap, 2008. Sva prava pridrana.